by Rustic Escentuals

Before you know it, spring and Mother’s day are upon us! Better get ready! Silk Soaps make delightful and customizable wedding favors, bridal showers, and bridal lunches. Before you know it, you’ll make dozens and dozens of these because not only they are easy to make but also because the Sea Salt and Rice Flower fragrance oil is so spell binding. Part of the beauty of using silk shapes to artfully create disposable soaps is that you can use a variety of shapes to customize colors and scents to make soaps for different seasons, holidays, or events.

delightful and customizable wedding favors, gifts, and more!

 
Supplies and equipment needed:
Microwave
Microwave safe glass container
Sharp knife to cut soap into cubes
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol (not shown in supplies)
Butter knife
Rubber gloves
Tweezers
Wax paper
Silk Shapes – hearts, butterflies, flower petals
Crystal Clear Flat Cello Bags
Disposable Pipettes (not shown in supplies)
Natural Melt & Pour soap base
Sea Salt and Rice Flower Fragrance Oil
Sheer Organza Bags

gather your supplies (don’t forget your pipettes)

get your silk shapes ready

 
Step 1: Cut up approximately 8 ounces of Natural Melt & Pour soap base into small cubes using a sharp knife. Place the cubed soap in a microwave safe glass container. Tip: Melt 3.5 to 4 ounces for approximately 45 – 50 petals. In this tutorial I’m melting 8 oz because I plan to make a lot, lot more!

Step 2: Place container in the microwave and melt using 30-second bursts. Be careful – soap can easily boil which will result in a poor quality rubbery soap.

Step 3: Using a disposable pipette, add 5 ml of Sea Salt and Rice Flower Fragrance Oil. This is an awesome clean, spa-like scent! Stir slowly until mixed well. No colorant is needed.

Note: If you are decreasing the amount of soap used, decrease your fragrance oil accordingly.

add fragrance oil

stir slowly to combine

 
Step 4: The silk shapes used for this tutorial are hearts and the cutest little butterflies! These can be found at your local craft stores. Using tweezers, dip one of the hearts into the scented soap base 2 times, making sure to fully submerge it in the soap.

use tweezers to dip the shape into the scented soap base

dip it once, and then dip it a second time

 
Step 5: Pull the heart out of the soap base with the tweezers and allow the excess soap to drip back into the container. You can even give it a little shake to make sure. This makes for a smoother looking finished product.

allow the excess soap to drip back into the container

 
Step 6: Place the heart onto a piece of waxed paper to dry. Make sure to place it right side up.

place right-side-up on waxed paper to dry

 
Step 7: Repeat Steps 4 – 6 for the butterflies or to continue with the remainder of the other silk shapes. You may have to re-melt the soap base from time to time, depending on how many you’re making. Try to work fast – you want to limit the number of times you have to re-melt the soap base.

repeat for the remainder of your shapes

 
Tip: Once you get comfortable making these, you can add several hearts or butterflies to the melted soap base at the same time, removing them one at a time. Also, bubbles may form in the soap base because of the dipping and removing, so keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol nearby to spritz the soap to remove bubbles.

Step 8: Let the silk soap shapes completely cool and dry on waxed paper.

let cool completely until dry

 
Step 9: When the silk soap shapes are dry, slowly peel off the wax paper. I usually wait approximately 10 – 15 minutes – it doesn’t take long. You may notice some shapes having excess soap around the edges – just pinch or rub and smooth the edges with your fingers.

slowly peel off the waxed paper and rub to smooth any rough edges

 
Packaging Idea

Because these are gifts, I first package them in Crystal Clear Cello Bags (fold over the top of the bag and seal with a piece of clear tape). Place each bag in a sheer organza bag and it’s ready for gift giving!

package in clear bags

and then place in a cheery organza bag

 
Make sure you include instructions with each package on how to use these if giving as gifts: “Use like a bar of soap. Lather, rinse, toss and go!”

Important: Also include a disclaimer stating that these are not meant for children under the age of 5.

what a perfect gift for anyone and any occasion!

these are such fun to make, you’ll soon find yourself making dozens and dozens!